Newest graduate school class begins studies at VIMS

Nicole X. Cai

Nicole Cai is continuing her studies at VIMS as a doctoral student after completing her Master’s degree earlier this year, studying the impact of submerged aquatic vegetation on water quality in San Francisco Bay. Her work at VIMS was partly supported by an International Fellowship at Germany’s University of Oldenburg from 2017-18. She earned her undergraduate degree from Nanjing University in China.

Derek Detweiler

Derek Detweiler comes to VIMS from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. While there, he served as Vice President of the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences’ Graduate Student Association and was a Coach and Facilitator for UNCW’s Regional Science Olympiad.

Matthew Fair

Matthew Fair participated in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at Duke University’s Nicholas School for the Environment while a student at UNCW. He also completed a summer internship with NOAA in 2015.

Anthony Himes

Anthony Himes joined the lab of VIMS

Jackson Martinez

Jackson Martinez arrives at VIMS from Texas A&M-Galveston where he was a NOAA Fisheries observer for oil-platform removals in the Gulf of Mexico. An aquatic animal life support operator, he is also certified in offshore water survival, Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), and open-water diving.

Kayla Martinez-Soto

Kayla Martinez-Soto, a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University, was a 2017 undergraduate research fellow at UC-San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography. She has joined Assistant Professor David Johnson’s J-Lab studying how global change affects ecosystems and their plant and animal inhabitants.

Joseph Matt

Joseph Matt is continuing his studies at VIMS after receiving his Master’s degree earlier this year. He was a member of the VIMS REU class of 2012, and began his graduate studies at VIMS after graduating from Wake Forest University in 2015. He serves as a Tetraploid Technologist with VIMS’ Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding Technology Center and is a scientific consultant for production and maintenance of tetraploid oysters.

Stephanie Peart

Stephanie Peart, a graduate of Stockton University, was an REU student at the Bigelow Lab in Maine from 2016-17 and participated in a cruise supporting the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Ocean Time-series. She holds a certification in open-water SCUBA diving.

Shantelle Richards

Shantelle Richards, a graduate of Roger Williams University, was an education intern for Save the Bay Exploration Center in Newport, Rhode Island. She also served as the captain of the RWU women’s swim team and holds a PADI open-water dive certification.

Kristen Sharpe

Kristen Sharpe most recently was a Marine Education Specialist with the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia. Based at VIMS’ Gloucester Point campus, she organized educational public programs including monthly Discovery Labs and annual summer camps. A graduate of SUNY-ESF, she also has served as a co-PI for grant-funded projects involving science education.

Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith participated as a field-site intern with UNC’s Coastal Studies Institute during his undergraduate studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Michelle Woods

Michelle Woods, a graduate of Allegheny College, was a Research Associate at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Crested Butte, Colorado.

Cristin Wright

Cristin Wright was part of VIMS’ 2016 REU program, conducting research with the Coastal Hydrodynamics & Sediment Dynamics lab group under Professor Carl Friedrichs and Dr. Grace Massey. A graduate of the Maine Maritime Academy, she holds a Merchant Mariner Credential.

Jilian Xiong

Jilian Xiong comes to VIMS from China where she recently graduated from Nanjing University. A first author on two journal articles, she spent a semester studying in Taiwan and participated in the TOP Brazil-China student exchange program.